Silly and social

With nearly 850,000 Facebook fans, novelty gift retailer Spencer Gifts LLC is tapping into consumers’ affinity for oddball products and silly games, as the retailer deems its Facebook page the official source of madness, mayhem, music, humor and trends. A three-week contest in November gave fans 100 opportunities to win a $100 gift certificate to SpencersOnline.com with a sort of Facebook scavenger hunt. Shoppers received points for completing online tasks like, “Upload a picture of you jumping in mid-air holding a sign that says ‘Spencer’s.’” Consumers voted on their favorite submissions and the more votes a player received the better her chances of winning. Spencer’s also integrates the Facebook Like button on product pages and has more than 500 Twitter followers.